Things We Didn’t Like About Sun & Moon

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Easily one of the best entries in the series, if not, arguably the best, Pokémon Sun & Moon has taken players by storm. And with only a month since its initial release it’s already broken sale records and danced its way into our hearts – but no game is perfect. Here are some things we didn’t like about our adventure through Alola.

 

The Rotom Pokedéx

Revealed as one of the first huge, new features of Gen VII in the early days of Sun & Moon’s prerelease the Rotom ‘Dex promised to give personality and new features to the age old Pokedéx. Instead we got an annoying, forgettable talking bottom screen whose dialogue was never really welcome or something we looked forward to. In terms of new features, it did give us useful pin point directions through the main story line and the Poké Finder (more on that later), but once you became the Champion Rotom didn’t serve any use other than giving very meaningless, repetitive commentary as your completed the Alola ‘Dex. And it’s completely baffling that they never made this new Rotom Form catchable and useable in battle. Overall, the Rotom Pokedéx was a fantastic idea to breathe life into such an old, unchanged device in the game, but its personality is much more suited for the anime where it’s a fully realized character, and for merchandise where it can remain as a mute, cute ‘mon to look at.

New Pokémon’s Low Encounter Rates

Pokémon Sun & Moon have some of the lowest and most exclusive encounter rates and locations for any Pokémon games released so far – being as low as 1% and 10% in only one place in some cases. For hardcore players, such as most of the people reading this, these low encounter rates are a welcome challenge and make completing the Pokedéx a little more fun and worthwhile. But for a lot of casual, younger players, its very, very easy to make it through the whole game without encountering a lot of Pokémon in the wild – even if you put in the effort to go and look for them specifically. Even though the Pokedéx is specific to what patch of grass you can find them in, it does not specify some special conditions, the inclusion of SOS Battles and other new encounter methods – making it hard not to rely on third party Pokedéxes to catch ‘em all. I can’t be the only one who spent a good hour just trying to find a Mimikyu, right?

Protagonists Being Numb to Everything

Chock full of several twists and turns, Sun & Moon had one of the best plot lines in the 20 years of the franchise. Encountering Ultra Beasts, meeting characters from games past, dealing with the Aether Foundation; as the story progressed we were left with face cracks of the centuries with each step we took into Alola – so why didn’t our in-game avatar react the same way? With very, very few exceptions the protagonist had the same aloof smile while everything was happening – no matter how sad, how dire, and how intense the situation was – Despite other characters around us having plenty of emotion and proper reactions. And, honestly, it was hard at times to focus on what was happening and to take things seriously when we had such a goofy, empty smile all the while. With Gen VII giving the most personal customization yet, even down to being able to choose the style in which you throw your Pokéball, it comes as a shock that Game Freak didn’t give our protagonist the ability to react to situations accordingly. Yes, Pokémon is famous for having a silent protagonist, but Red’s emotionless reaction to everything reads a bit better than an empty smile.

The Poké Finder

Another feature hyped for during the pre-release of Sun & Moon, the Poke Finder was marketed as one of the new aspects that came with the Rotom Pokedéx, and much like the Rotom ‘Dex it failed to dazzle fans. What most hoped would be a love letter to Pokémon Snap, turned into a very shallow, rather useless feature of the game. With the Poke Finder only working in a select few, pre-determined spots, the Pokémon and their poses being limited and repetitive, and no way to share the photos with other players, this in-game feature seems pretty useless. The only reason we’re still even bothering with it is to get that stamp on our trainer passport – and believe us, we’re just as unhappy with the amount of time we need to pour into it just to get it. All things considered, the Poké Finder was another great idea, but a poorly executed one.

General Lack of 3D and Touch Screen Use

Despite being on the Nintendo 3DS, 3D was completely removed in-game other than when firing up the Poke Finder (ironically, paired with its gyroscope capabilities, it’s quite possibly the worst place to enable 3D). Although several complaints about 3D causing slow down during battles specifically arose in Generation VI, and it never truly being well implemented in previous generations overall; its surprising 3D wasn’t utilized during important cut scenes at the very least. And, honestly, it’s a bit disappointing that Game Freak didn’t try to improve upon it, and instead decided to just remove the feature all together. One of the coolest features the 3DS has to offer is the 3D slider being so accessible and easy to use – letting you decide whether or not you want to enable the 3D. Some people don’t like it, some do, but just having the option is nice. And on a somewhat related note, Sun & Moon is a game that can almost completely be played using the top screen. Rarely is the bottom screen used and completely necessary…but perhaps that was intentional? Despite being a gorgeous game that pushed the system to the limits, Game Freak didn’t make the best use of the two defining factors and selling points of the 3DS.

Removal of Amazing Features From Past Generations

Sun & Moon took several leaps and bounds forward, but in the process of adding new features and expanding upon older ones, it seems like we’ve taken a step backwards in some areas. Horde Battles, although not a huge loss, was a fun and new battle style that provided a new challenge as well as an easier way to manually EV train and hunt shinies: however once entering Alola we found it completely removed. Moreover, the convenience of the DexNav, the PSS and Super Training is completely null and void now. Gone are the days of being able to easily tell if you’ve caught all Pokémon in the area with one glance – now you have to search the Pokedéx entry by entry to see if you caught ‘em all. Gone are the days of centralized EV training with Super Training – now you have to use in game currency across several different platforms to make your ‘mons the best. And gone are the days of being able to battle, trade and connect with other players with a single touch in the PSS, now we have to traverse through the awkward and troublesome Festival Plaza. And although the end result of all these axed features are still available by other means, how we went from everything being so seamless and convenient to clunky and complicated is beyond us.

No Side Quest Tracker

Despite being a staple in most RPGs, our quest through Alola really marked the first time in Pokémon where several NPCs gave us little side quests that spawned rewards if completed. A lot of these quests were as simple as catching a Pokémon and showing it to the NPC, and the money reward was definitely worthwhile, but as we traversed through the story some quests were left incomplete for a number of reasons. Now well into the post game, I have a desire to complete all the in-game trades and Pokedéx quests, but with no formal tracker I’ve forgotten where all these NPCs are, and what the actual quest was – once again making us rely on third party information hubs to figure it all out.

 

Despite these faults, Pokémon Sun & Moon’s wondrous region, story, characters, Pokémon and new features seem to completely eclipse any negative thoughts we may have about the latest entry in the series. What are some things that you found you didn’t like about Pokémon Sun & Moon and hope to see in the rumored Pokémon Stars?

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4,195 thoughts on “Things We Didn’t Like About Sun & Moon”

  2. Is this weird? I like the Pokémon on my first team Sun better (Prima, Rai, Ribo, Lycan, Luran, Salazzle) but I like the individual Pokémon (Torracat, Grimer and Morelull) on my second run better?

    Mostly because so far they’ve had good natures unlike Timid Primarina, – Speed Lycanroc and Salazzle (Quiet Torracat is surprisingly okay in-game, especially with the amount of time I’ll be stuck with Flamethrower and how slow Incineroar would be, most of Grimer’s weaknesses are physical anyway so higher Defense and lower Sp. Def isn’t too bad, and Effect Spore Relaxed (+Def – Speed) is probably the best outcome for my in-game stall set)

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  4. So the Battle For Alola is over, how do I get my 50 bp? I checked the status of the competition, and it just told me the competition is now over.

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    • Results are still being tallied. Once the results are available, go to pokemon GL, online competition, competition participation records (my page), and the reward will be received there (will say something like send to game). The next time you game sync, you’ll get it.

      I think, this is how the things worked last time in ORAS…

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  5. Today’s GTS chain of deals…
    > Porygon 2 for Lunala
    > Lunala for Solgaleo + Lucky Egg
    > Level 70+ Alakazam (story playthrough guy I dumped) for Solgaleo
    > Dhelmise for Lunala
    > Oranguru for Xurkitree

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  7. I hate that Rotom keeps telling me there are plenty of new Pokemon out there to catch. No Rotom, there are literally zero Pokemon out there that I don’t already have. Please leave me alone, and stop promising lies.

    I also dislike that UBs more or less ruin competitive unless you can one-shot them before they destroy your whole team.

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  8. What is the most efficient way to farm bottlecaps? I’ve never gotten one from the Poké Pelago, and I’ve only obtained maybe three from fishing. Surely there’s a quicker way since people seem to be using them a lot more than me.

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    • For a week or so I just kept sending my Pokémon to look for shards in Poké Pelago. You need 30 in one type of shard to get a Bottle Cap. I just got 3 bottlecaps in Festival Plaza for having 30 Yellow, Red and Green shards 🙂 Also, lottery ticket stands in Festival Plaza are great stands to have. It’s free once per day and I’ve gotten a few bottle caps from them.

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  10. What I disliked was how incredibly easy the game was. The was ALWAYS 10 levels ahead of the NPCs and every single one of my Pokémon one GT killed virtually everything (except bewear). There was no difficult use curve Andy even the elite four didn’t have a full team of 6!

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      • That doesn’t mean that they shouldn’t. It is frankly immersion breaking the en you’re able to have a full team of six different Pokémon ten minutes into the game and then you find out you’re the only person in the game world to do. It is frankly stupid.

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    • Did you use Exp Share? I didn’t and I found the game to be rather difficult but I think that was do to poor team planning on my part but I’ll have a better idea when I play pokemon sun.

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  14. Okay, so now that I have a better understanding of the Festival Plaza, I need some new shops. What do you guys have and what ranks are they?

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  16. 1.For me one of the biggest let down was that GF showed a lot of the new Pokemon before the game then come to find out there were so few when Sun and Moon finally came out
    2. The game was good but yet it felt so empty in the lore of Pokemon like in past games
    3. The empty spaces that have the construction material I know they’re probably putting it for later on like Pokemon Stars and what’s going to be there but at least give us a hint
    4. I did like the island trails and Totem Pokemon but I miss the gyms I think it was more the trainers before you got to the gym leaders that made me more prepared for the big battle and now since it feels you don’t do a lot to get there
    5. Also has to do with gyms I didn’t like that we didn’t get gym badges

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          • And you don’t need to be on this site if you’re so opposed to having your opinions challenged.

        • True they tried changing it up but I wish they would of put puzzles or more challenging battles in order to get to the totem Pokemon I mean the first and second Trails were so easy and yes I know the grand trails were in other words the gym leaders I just wish they’ve would of been more then just 4 and I wish they would of given you more then just z-crystal it kind of took the rareness of them when some NPCs gave you them unlike gym badges

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          • The thing is though, Gyms were progressively getting easier as the gens went

            I agree Z-Crystals should’ve been rarer but the Island challenge ones make sense and at least the ‘random’ ones are given to you by important NPCs

          • I beg to differ. In Gen III, Flannery was as hard as hell, her Camerupt kept on using Attract and her Torkoal was holding a White Herb!

          • I do agree with you about some gym getting easier but trails are just as easy in Sun and Moon and also I feel you had more important battles in past Gens and in gyms

            And Z-crystals I like the concept of them I’m just not a fan yet so it was a bummer to know that’s all you were gonna get after trails

  17. Why does our character haveto smile every moment, I want to see some emotions! Jesus, *spoiler* when Lillie left, I want us to cry or frown a bit, not to have a fucking constant smile as always. Lillie is one of the best characters ever. I hope we will see her as a champion someday.

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  18. I didn’t like that there was no way to stop SOS battles… like a reverse Adrenaline Orb. Sometimes I just want to catch the stupid Magikarp and move on.

    And I totally agree about the SOS battle-exclusive Pokemon. I never would’ve found Mareanie, and I’ve still never seen a Castform for the SOS weather battle-exclusives. How the hell is anyone supposed to figure that out?

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  20. Another gripe: exclusive clothing and the Festival Plaza dye shop system.
    Example: You can only buy bright blue clothes in Moon, right? But I’m in Sun and want a bright blue shirt. So I think, “okay, I’ll get a Dye Shop and dye my clothes”. But then you can only earn a Blue Dye Shop in Moon. So I think “I’ll talk to random strangers till I find a Blue Dye Shop”. I find one, and it’s a one-star. I can now dye my white stuff light blue, and if I have an insane amount of hard-to-find berries, other light colors. Finally—after hours of grinding FC and asking random visitors—I find someone with a 5 star Dye Shop, but it’s Orange. I pay my 3000 FC and take my carefully cultivated berry crop to dye my favorite shirt bright blue… AND YOU CAN BERRY-DYE THE SHIRT LITERALLY EVERY COLOR… but only in light and dark. No “bright” anything, except orange which I can buy in the stores in Sun. I just wanted to match my Popplio, dammit. Now he’s grown and has 20 kids of his own.

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  21. One more thing: in Festival Plaza, you get asked if you want to host “this facility” but they don’t tell you what it does/sells. If you get one from the visitors, they don’t show it to you beforehand (I like Punk Girls manning all my shops if possible). And you can’t go back and change your mind, AND they force you to save, so no SR. Sophocles is running a scam.

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  22. How do you get missions to scroll across the bottom screen? I desperately need FC, but I haven’t come across a mission in like 15 minutes.

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    • Try hosting one. Sometimes they start showing up after that. Maybe it’s because you change visitors during some of them, not sure.

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  23. How rare are Ganlon Berries?! I’ve been SRing at the tree where Serebii lists them as being found, but I can’t find one. This is so infuriating!

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  24. Wait, why do people think that SM is after XY in the timeline? Because that makes no sense. The backpacker in XY says “We have this champion you wouldn’t believe…”, and alola has no champion before the events of SM.

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  25. YES! I was finally able to reply to the pokejungle league thread on the forums! It’s been glitching out for over a month, so I haven’t been able to reply.

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      • Everyone seems to be, yeah. Haven’t seen Poekoko in a while, but it’s likely he’s just tied up with life (december, it’s the worst).

        Also we’re going to try to start up soon, so I better start building my team. Luckily with break soon, I’ll be able to work full time on that.

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